Rachel lifted her head and looked toward Cal, who was coming down the steps with his daughter tucked in the crook of his arm. He regarded her stonily.
"The coffee's ready in the kitchen," Jane said. "Let me see what I can scratch up for breakfast."
Rachel returned Cal's gaze for a moment, then took Edward's hand. "Thanks, Jane, but we need to go."
"But Mommy, Rosie's dad said I can have some of his Lucky Charms."
"Maybe another time."
"But I want some now. Can I? Please?" To her surprise, Edward turned to Gabe. Some of her son's wariness returned, and his voice grew smaller, his manner more cautious. "Please, Gabe?"
To her surprise Gabe reached out and rubbed his shoulder. It was a voluntary touch, and his voice held a note of tenderness that astonished her. "I think your mom's tired. How about if I buy you a box of Lucky Charms on the way home?"
She expected Edward to back off, but he didn't. Instead of pressing his case with her, he continued to speak to Gabe, and his wariness vanished. "But then I can't see Rosie put food in her hair. She does that, Gabe. Really… And I want to see it."
Gabe looked at her. "What do you say, Rachel?"
Rachel was so mystified by the change in their relationship that she didn't immediately reply, and Jane stepped in. "I know you're tired, Rachel, but you have to eat anyway. Let me fix you something before you go." With brisk determination, she swept her into the kitchen.
The men followed, silent and cautious. Edward, however, seemed unaware of the tension. He flew back and forth between Rosie, Gabe, and Cal, asking about Lucky Charms, Rosie's eating habits, and spinning an earnest story about his own babyhood when he swore a dinosaur had come to visit him in Rosie's room. The men were completely attentive to him, maybe because it kept them from having to deal with each other.
Rachel excused herself to use the powder room, where she freshened up as best she could, but with her bare feet and wrinkled old house dress, she looked like she should be traveling through Oklahoma with the Joad family instead of being entertained by the Bonners.
When she came out, Jane was opening a box of pancake mix, while Edward perched on a stool at the counter with a bowl of cereal and Cal fed oatmeal to Rosie, who was in her high chair. Gabe stood apart, leaning against the counter and cradling a dark-green coffee mug.
Jane glanced up from the box she was opening, then stared at Rachel's bare feet. "Did something happen to your shoes?"
Gabe glared at his brother and spoke before she could reply. "Odell confiscated them. She spent the night barefoot on that dirty concrete floor."
Jane shot Rachel a horrified look. Rachel lifted her eyebrow and, with a barely perceptible motion, shook her head. What was wrong with Gabe? That made his second lie this morning. Apparently he intended to make his brother suffer.
Jane bit her bottom lip and turned her attention to the pancake mix.
Cal immediately grew defensive. "I told them they had to take care of her, Gabe. Odell said he would." Rosie chose that moment to blow a happy raspberry, sending a shower of oatmeal at her father.
Edward piped up. "Rosie's mommy showed me her computer last night, and I got to see all these planets moving around, and she said they was part of the-uh-" He looked up at Jane and the familiar worried expression formed on his face. "I forgot."
She smiled. "The solar system."
"I remember."
Just then the front doorbell rang, and Cal jumped up to answer it. It was barely seven-thirty, too early for a casual caller, but as Cal's voice drifted into the kitchen from the foyer, Rachel soon realized the identity of the visitor.
"Where have you been?" she heard Cal say. "You were supposed to be in Knoxville, but the hotel said you weren't registered."
"Change in plans."
At the sound of Ethan's voice, Rachel regarded Jane glumly. "One more Mountie to Gabe's rescue. Aren't I just the lucky one?"
Gabe gave a mutter of disgust, slammed down his coffee mug, and headed toward the foyer as Ethan went on.
"We-I came back last night, but I didn't check my machine until half an hour ago. Kristy ran over to the jail as soon as she heard your message, and-Gabe!"
What had Kristy been doing at Ethan's so early in the morning? As Rachel pondered the implications, Jane gazed over at her, lines of worry etched in her smooth forehead. "I know you've been through a lot, Rachel, but for Gabe's sake, this really has to be settled."
"I suppose." Rachel took the wet paper towels Jane handed her and began cleaning up Rosie, who beamed at her. As the men's conversation continued in the hallway, Rachel planted a kiss on the baby's curls, then wiped up the tray. "Thanks for taking such good care of Edward. I was so worried about him."
"Of course you were. He's a wonderful little boy, smart as a whip. Cal and I adore him."
Jane stirred milk into a mug of coffee and gave it to her. Rachel took a seat on a counter stool just as the men appeared.
"Pastor Ethan!" Edward jumped down off his stool and began peppering Ethan with an account of his latest adventures. Ethan alternated between responding and throwing her unhappy looks that seemed to say he'd expected better from her.
Rosie began pounding on her high chair, demanding to be let down. While Jane filled another mug, Cal put his daughter on the floor. She immediately crawled over to Edward and pulled herself up on his legs.
He winced as her sharp little fingernails scratched his bare calf. "Rosie, you're a pain."
She clapped her hands, lost her balance, and fell back on her rump. Her face puckered, but before she could cry, Gabe scooped her up. It was the first time Rachel had seen him hold her, and from the surprise that flickered over his brothers' faces, she knew she wasn't the only one who'd noticed.
Gabe reached down and touched Edward's cheek. "How'd you like to watch TV while the grown-ups visit?"
"I don't like baby shows."
Jane abandoned her pancake mix and moved out from behind the counter. "Rosie's grandparents gave her a cartoon video for her birthday. It's still too old for her, but I bet you'll like it."
"Okay."
The two of them disappeared into the family room. Gabe set Rosie back down and put Horse in front of her. He eyed his brothers. "Since both of you are here, I think it's time we had a family meeting. I know you're tired, Rachel, but this has gone on long enough."
Rachel would rather have hidden in the bathroom than face such a biased jury, but she shrugged. "I haven't run from a fight yet, lover."
Ethan and Cal both stiffened. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. They were too easy.
Gabe regarded her with mild exasperation, then turned to his brothers. "All right. Here's the way it's going to be…"
Ethan cut him off. "Before you get started, you need to know how concerned Cal and I have been about the effect your relationship with Rachel's had on you." He paused. "Although Cal did go a little far last night."
"Yeah? Well, you weren't around to hold a prayer service!" Cal retorted.
Gabe exploded. "I'm not ten years old, for God's sake! And I damn well want to be able to fall asleep at night without worrying that one of you is going to have Rachel strung up while I'm not watching!" He shot his index finger at them. "She hasn't done one thing to either of you, but you've both treated her like dirt, and by damn, it's going to stop right now!"
Jane had returned to the kitchen. She patted Gabe's arm as she passed him, then went to stand beside her husband and stroke him.
Cal's jaw jutted. "This isn't about what she's done to us, and you know it. You're the one we're worried about!"
"Well, stop worrying!" Gabe shouted.
Rosie froze and blinked her eyes. Gabe drew a deep breath and dropped his voice. "Rachel's right. You're both like a couple of mother hens, and I can't stand it any longer."
Ethan said, "Look, Gabe… I have some experience here. I've done a lot of grief counseling, and you have to understand-"